Why You Need to Act Quickly After a Truck Accident

May 30, 2018

Why You Need to Act Quickly After a Truck Accident

Posted By
Fitzpatrick Mariano Santos Sousa P.C.

In order to operate safely and legally, commercial truck operators and
trucking companies often carry extensive insurance policies backed by
companies who handle an immense number of claims every year. With so much
liability on the line, these companies know that the best way to protect
their bottom line is to respond quickly in the event of a truck accident,
get to the scene, and conduct an investigation in order to gather evidence
and build their defense case. This is because commercial trucks often
carry at least a portion of liability in the event of an accident, and
that portion can equate to thousands of dollars in compensation, and the
more money a company has to pay out, the less they get to keep in their
coffers as profit.

So when you’re involved in a truck accident, you need to be able
to respond quickly as well and start building a case of your own, especially
if you’ve been injured as a result of these accidents. Knowing what
insurance companies will do after an accident can help you strategize
for what actions you should take in the immediate aftermath of an accident,
which could make the difference between an optimal case outcome and struggling
to get the compensation you’re entitled to.

In the Immediate Aftermath

When you’re injured in a truck accident, trucking insurance companies
will often send a team of investigators to the accident scene, sometimes
within as little as a few hours of the accident actually occurring. These
investigators will work quickly to collect evidence, document the accident
scene, and start building their defense case. This is to be expected,
and they’re well within their right to do so.

However, that doesn’t mean their conduct is always entirely ethical.
Unfortunately we hear far too often about onboard recorder logs being
“corrupted” or certain damaged pieces simply going “missing.”
Sometimes these things happen, but in many cases this evidence could be
what proves the negligence on behalf of the trucking company or their
driver, and thus places the financial liability on the insurance company.
This becomes even more likely once the insurance company has the wreckage
from the accident transported to their facility where it can be investigated
in even greater detail.

Protecting Your Case

So what can you do? If you’ve suffered a serious injury, you can’t
always stay at the accident scene to investigate it yourself—you
need to see a doctor and receive medical treatment right away. Even further,
how would you even know what to look for? The first thing you should do
is reach out to a qualified and experienced Waterbury truck accident attorney
as soon as possible and have them start representing you. An attorney
can make decisions on your behalf, and work to hold the trucking company
and their insurance accountable for what they’re liable for.

In many cases, the first thing a lawyer will do is file a restraining order
against the company and their insurance to prevent them from destroying
any evidence. It’s not uncommon for companies to finish their investigation
and then start destroying the wreckage to get rid of it permanently. Not
only does this prevent you from being able to have your attorney investigate
the accident (along with any experts they wish to have help them with
this task) but it could get rid of evidence that could be a difference
maker in your case. It’s not uncommon for this evidence to be the
first thing that they destroy.

A restraining order stops any destruction of evidence, and makes anybody
who alters the evidence further criminally liable for doing so. This gives
your legal team a chance to conduct their own investigation of the accident
and build your case as the prosecution. Having sufficient opportunity
to build your case will go a long way towards getting the outcome you
deserve in your case.